Ukrainian courts heard only one-third of corruption-related cases received in H1
KYIV. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Ukrainian courts handled a mere one-third of criminal cases opened into corruption-related offenses and convicted 469 officials, of whom 121 received prison sentences, in the first six months of 2017.
"Courts received 2,237 charging documents as part of criminal cases opened into corruption-related crimes in the first half of the year. Of them, only 741 were heard," Ukrainian Supreme Court Chairman Yaroslav Romanyuk said in a press briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
The statistics provided to reporters show that 469 officials were convicted, 77 were acquitted, and charges were dropped in 110 cases as a result of these trials. Of the 469 convicted, 121 officials received prison sentences, 33 were given restrictions of freedom, and 265 were fined.
The majority of those convicted are marked under the 'other civil servants' category - 101 people, 58 policemen and other Interior Ministry officers, 44 military officials, 32 local government officials, 29 employees of other law enforcement agencies, 19 city and village heads, 18 members of local legislatures, and 13 State Fiscal Service employees.
Those convicted also include two Prosecutor's Office employees, one Ukrainian Security Service employee, but do not include any judges and officials of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.
